The City of Davenport has made policy changes after a dog was killed by an illegally placed trap at Credit Island Park on November 12, 2014.
The Bettendorf man who illegally placed 10 traps in Credit Island Park told News 8 in an exclusive interview that he didn't know it was illegal to place traps in the park, because he had been told to do so by Davenport officials in previous years.
That statement triggered the internal review of the Parks Department, and raised questions about exactly who gave the man authorization in previous years.
"There was some debate on where that came from, as far as for authorization," said Scott Hock, the Director of Davenport Parks and Recreation. According to Hock, it's still a mystery as to who actually authorized the man to trap in previous years.
Hock did confirm that the city does, occasionally, give permission for people to trap in the city parks.
"We know that there are times on public property, and sometimes on park property, where trapping does have to occur," Hock said.
"Records and emails found no specific authorization for the placement of the trap which killed the pet dog," said a November 18, 2014 statement issued by the City of Davenport.
In the statement, the Davenport Parks Department announced new policy changes in lieu of the recent trapping incident.
The first change is that any trapper who wants authorization to trap in a city park will first have to get approval from Hock, according to the press release from the city.
When authorized trappers are trapping in a city park, signs will be posted that warn of trapping, the statement explained.
"We want to use this as an opportunity for us to correct, and make sure that this doesn't happen again," Hock said.
"No trapping on city property will be approved until polices and practices are updated," the city press release said.
The Davenport Police Department was continuing their law enforcement investigation.